1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand-input-type game system which controls game characters or the situation of a game without use of a keyboard or a joystick, to a sign perception system for use with the game system, and to a computer-readable recording medium having a game program recorded thereon.
2. Description of the Background Art
There has recently been proposed a game system for controlling the motion of game characters by means of perceiving hand gestures or body reactions of a game player in real time.
The present applicant has proposed a hand-input-type game system which perceives a sign from the motion of a hand or finger of a game player and which attacks an enemy character displayed on a game screen or controls the motions of game characters according to the input sign.
The hand-input-type game system proposed by the present applicant requires a received-light pattern detection apparatus which detects a received-light pattern corresponding to the position of a finger or hand of a game player on a two-dimensional planar surface formed on the front surface of a monitor and which can transport the thus-received received-light pattern to a video game board within a period of time shorter than a read interval of a video game.
The received-light pattern detection apparatus corresponds to a scanning manner apparatus in which photo-couplers, each consisting of a light-emitting diode and a light-receiving element, are two-dimensionally arranged at given intervals, thus constituting a detection plane. The light-emitting diodes are sequentially illuminated, whereby the light-receiving elements emit a light pattern to be received.
In a case where one hundred and twelve photo-couplers are provided on the front surface of a 29-inch monitor, since the time required for reading a received-light pattern from a single photo-coupler assumes a value of 200 xcexcsec, a time of 22.4 msec. is required for reading received-light patterns from all the photo-couplers. This read time is longer than a read interval of a video game (i.e., 16.6 msec.)
The received-light pattern detection apparatus proposed by the present applicant is required to shorten a per-scan read time including a transfer time, so as to become less than the read interval of a video game.
Further, the received-light pattern detection apparatus proposed by the present applicant requires a sign perception system which detects the motion of a finger or hand of a game player from received-light pattern data in real time and perceives a sign intended by the game player from the thus-detected motion.
When manually entering signs, the game player does not always trace the detection plane with a single finger. For instance, there may be a case where the game player traces the detection plane with several fingers or with a hooked finger. In such a case, the coordinates of a point intended by the game player cannot be specified uniquely, and the received pattern data vaguely indicate a movement of the finger or the like, thus the apparatus cannot percept signs accord with intention of a game player.
The sign perception system must be able to uniquely specify the coordinates of a finger from a received-light pattern produced by the received-light pattern detection apparatus in order to perceive a sign intended by the game player without fail.
The present invention has been conceived in view of the foregoing drawbacks of the background art and is aimed at providing a game system which perceives a sign intended by a game player from the motion of a hand or finger of the game player and controls the motions of game characters or the scene of a game in accordance with the sign; a sign perception system for use with the game system; and a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a game system for controlling a game in accordance with a motion of a game player. The game system includes a received-light pattern detection apparatus for detecting the motion of the game player""s hand as a received-light pattern. The game system also includes a sign perception unit for perceiving a sign from the received-light pattern input from the received-light pattern detection apparatus. The game system further includes a game control unit for controlling a game in accordance with the sign perceived by the sign perception unit.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for controlling a game in accordance with a motion of a game player. The program causes a computer to perform a sign perception function for perceiving a sign from a received-light pattern corresponding to the motion of a hand of the game player. The program also causes the computer to perform a game control function for controlling a game in accordance with the sign perceived by the sign perception function. The . . . includes.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a sign perception system for perceiving a sign from received-light pattern data. The system includes a coordinate determination processing section for determining coordinates from the received-light pattern data. The system also includes an inclination computation processing section for detecting a straight line from the coordinate data determined by the coordinate determination processing section, thereby computing the inclination of the straight line. The system further includes a verification processing section for perceiving a sign by means of checking the inclination data computed by the inclination computation section against template data.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a sign perception system for perceiving a sign from received-light pattern data. The system includes a coordinate determination processing section for determining coordinates from the received-light pattern data. The system also includes a data selection processing section for selecting the coordinate data determined by the coordinate determination section. An angle computation processing section is provided in the system for computing angle data from the coordinate data selected by the data selection processing section. An inclination computation processing section is also provided in the system for detecting a straight line from the angle data computed by the angle computation processing section, thereby computing the inclination of the straight line. The system further includes a verification processing section for perceiving a sign by means of checking the inclination data computed by the inclination computation section against template data.
The above objects of the present invention are further achieved by a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for perceiving a sign from received-light pattern data. The program causes a computer to perform a coordinate determination function for determining coordinates from the received-light pattern data. The program also causes the computer to perform an inclination computation function for computing an inclination of a straight line from the coordinate data determined by the coordinate determination function. The program further causes the computer to perform a verification function for perceiving a sign by means of checking the inclination data computed by the inclination computation function against template data.